Endemol USA puts its brand on new division

Endemol USA is launching a new division focusing on branded entertainment for TV and digital media.

The new unit will be overseen by Jon Vlassopulos, newly promoted to senior vp digital media and branded entertainment. He signaled his intent to look for acquisitions among agencies that specialize in the latter because of the increasing interest from Madison Avenue on integrating brands and programming.

"We've been looking at a whole bunch of companies in this space," Vlassopulos said.

Both divisions will expand, with Joerg Bachmaier being elevated to vp business development, strategic planning, digital media.

Endemol also has brought on two new executives: David Armour as vp of Endemol Digital Studios and Jonathan Sandak as vp branded entertainment.

"(Vlassopulos) has done a great job of establishing us as leaders in new growth business areas, and his well-deserved promotion along with Joerg's is a direct reflection of their hard work," Endemol USA president David Goldberg said.

Previously, Endemol left it to producers on individual TV series like "Deal or No Deal" to handle brand integrations. On the digital side, Endemol has been producing more brand-integrated programs with partners including AOL. (partialdiff)